McCollum’s shooting leads Efes to win in Tel Aviv

Errick McCollum nailed 8 three-pointers and Anadolu Efes Istanbul dominated the boards en route to a resounding 72-92 road victory over Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv on Tuesday night. After losing its opening five games, Efes picked up its second consecutive road win and improved to 2-5, while Maccabi dropped to 4-3. McCollum finished with 31 points on 8-of-11 three-point shooting. He hit his first 6 attempts as Efes opened a 15-point lead in the second quarter. Maccabi came as close as 5 points after the break, and kept it close until Efes put together a 2-15 run that put the game away. Vladimir Stimac had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds and also picked up 3 steals in victory. Krunoslav Simon netted 11 points, Ricky Ledo had 10 points and 9 rebounds, while Bryant Dunston had 10 points and 5 blocks for Efes which hit 14 of 25 three-pointers and held a 30-46 rebounding edge against the team that led the league in that category prior to this game. Pierre Jackson finished with 20 points for Maccabi, Jonah Bolden collected 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocked shots, while DeShaun Thomas and Aley Tyus scored 10 points apiece.

Josh Adams scored 7 of the first 8 points for the visitors, including a three-pointer, but Jackson had 5 points for Maccabi and Bolden and Deandre Kane scored from close range. After Simon and Kane traded three-pointers, and Stimac and Tyus exchanged dunks, McCollum nailed his first three-pointer to make it 14-16. Simon hit his second three for Efes, but Thomas and Tyus made sure the score was tied at 19-19 after first quarter. McCollum’s second three started a 0-9 run to open second quarter for Efes that gave it a 19-28 lead. Maccabi got points from Thomas and Cole, but McCollum remained hot. He made a 4-point play and a minute later added a triple that opened a 24-37 cushion. Efes was
shooting 7-for-9 from long range at that point. Thomas nailed a three for Maccabi, but before halftime, McCollum hit two more from behind the arc and Stimac free throws extended the margin to 15 points, 32-47. Bolden’s triple made it 35-47 at halftime.

Jackson starred at the start of the third for Maccabi. Each team scored on the opening four possessions of the third quarter, but Jackson had 13 points and an assist as Maccabi closed within 52-57. After a timeout, Brock Motum strung together 6 points to get the margin back to double-digits. Maccabi was not going away just yet, as Bolden had 7 points, including a three-point play, and the hosts cut the gap to 61-67. But Ledo drove to the hoop and McCollum made a runner for the visitors. McCollum traded triples with Michael Roll, before Cole drove the baseline for a tough layup that made it 68-74. But Efes responded: Ledo had a put-back and McCollum a running triple before threes from Ledo and Simon capped a 2-15 run that opened a 70-89 margin and sealed the outcome.

Head Coaches

SPAHIJA, NEVEN

Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv

"Congratulations to Anadolu Efes for the amazing performance. In a long time I did not see a performance of one player like McCollum’s tonight. Sometimes that’s the life in basketball. Also, at the same moment we missed all of our shots, even layups. We had a lack of energy, and I think the game against Real Madrid really took a lot from us. But, the better team won the game tonight. I cannot say anything to my players. We will watch the tape, analyze it, see what mistakes we did. But that is life in sports. We don’t need to be frustrated, we need to be angry. We got to go back to work, because there are 23 games left… It is not easy. No team has enough energy to win every game and perform to 100% every game. Efes started the season 0-5, and now won in Barcelona and Tel Aviv. That is not easy, but that’s the momentum of the team. This is our worst game and our worst loss, but I don’t want to be frustrated. We need to see how to recover and get back."

PERASOVIC, VELIMIR

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"We made a preparation of the game. We knew Maccabi is a great at offensive rebounding and offensive transition. We needed to stop their offensive rebounds and we had great success in this. I think we also stopped their offensive transition, apart from the start of third quarter when we played bad defense. Of course, when you have a player who hits 8 of 11 three-pointers, everything is easier, but we played great defense tonight. That was our key, as well as rebounding. This EuroLeague is a very tough competition. Every week some results will be surprising. Madrid and Khimki lost by 25 or 30 points tonight. It can happen when you play in this rhythm. We are missing Derrick Brown, one of our most important players, and Justin Doellman is also hurt. So we have excuses to say why we lost first five games, but the reality is that EuroLeague is very tough. Every team is competitive, every team can beat every other team. McCollum had a good percentage of three-point shots. He has great scoring capacity which makes it easier for us. He played couple of games like this, but we cannot depend on the shots of one player. We need and expect more players to help. A team can’t depend on one player."

Players

THOMAS, DESHAUN

Maccabi FOX Tel Aviv

"It’s a tough loss. We wanted to protect our home court. We knew they are a good team. We saw that also against Barcelona. They played really well. We will learn from this."

MCCOLLUM, ERRICK

Anadolu Efes Istanbul

"Glory to God. I wasn’t sure if I will be able to play, and God healed me. Doctors did a great job. Every time I come to Israel it is personal. I remember my rookie year when I did not get to play much. I carry that with me, it is as a chip on my shoulder. I will never forget it. I was just focused tonight. Every day I work out and every day I train I think how my first year in Israel did not go well. I just wanted to win. Israel is a special place for me, it is my favorite country; I wasn’t going to miss this game for the world. I am happy to be back here, enjoy Tel Aviv, and it is even better because we got the win."